Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly had a secret UK home worth £2.5m, with the couple residing in this lavish farmhouse while Frogmore Cottage was renovated for them

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had a home in the United Kingdom which was worth £2.5m – but the couple had to give it up, reports suggest.

According to reports, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a two-year lease on a property in the Cotswolds. Harry and Meghan are believed to have signed the lease shortly before they walked down the aisle in May 2018.

After the Sussexes got wed, the couple moved into Frogmore Cottage after renovating the property in Windsor. But while the Sussexes waited for renovations to be carried out and completed, they are said to have resided in the Oxfordshire property, which was estimated to be worth more than £2.5m in 2018.

Sussex
The Sussexes stepped back from their senior roles as working royals in 2020 
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The Grade II-listed house comprises of three primary structures, with those being the main farmhouse, a separate two-bedroom cottage for staff and guests, and a converted barn that boasts not one but two kitchens, one on each of its two floors. Meanwhile, the main farmhouse consists of four bedrooms.

A friend of the couple previously said that the Sussexes “loved walking the dogs there and entertaining their friends in complete solitude” at the Oxfordshire home, with them reported to have entertained the likes of George and Amal Clooney while residing there.

Prince Harry and Meghan were evicted from Frogmore Cottage last summer. The pair departed their Windsor home and England as a whole in 2020 when they stepped down from their senior roles as working royals and moved across the pond to America.

Harry wrote in his memoir of Frogmore: “Once upon a time, this was going to be my forever home. Instead, it had proved to be just another brief stop.”

Following the publication of his bombshell memoir, the Sussexes were told to depart the cottage for good – meaning they would no longer have any residence in the UK. At the time, a representative confirmed: “We can confirm the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage.”

Speaking exclusively to The Mirror earlier this year, royal biographer Tom Quinn said: “Harry was absolutely furious and in tears about being evicted from Frogmore he felt his father had no right to do it and that it was purely vindictive.

“Harry couldn’t see that choosing to stop being a working royal would inevitably mean being deprived of his royal residence.”